Citation

This profile was prepared when Enrique Grapa was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2016.

The New Idea

Enrique is fundamentally challenging the paradigm surrounding the rights of the mentally disabled in Mexico. The predominant conceptualization today is that mental disability is a defect and a problem for the society. Enrique’s Fundacion Incluyeme is transforming such perspectives into one that emphasizes individual abilities over disabilities, and potential value over potential problems. In Enrique’s programs, adults with disability are placed in the heart of the society rather than hidden from it, so that they learn to lead a truly independent life throughout their entire life as adults.

As declared in the 2007 United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Enrique strongly believes that self-determination and quality of life are two basic human rights for all, regardless of the individual’s mental capacity. Within his vision, quality of life mainly derives from the ability to make decisions-- meaning, the more decisions that one is allowed to make, the happier he or she is. The correlation between the two factors has been corroborated in various cases of international research, and thus forms the central tenet of Enrique’s programs. Self-determination is also important in a pragmatic sense, as it is a necessary skill for disabled adults to survive after their caretaker (typically parents) passes away or can no longer care for them.

Enrique’s approach does not just “socialize” the mentally disabled – rather, it trains them in a holistic manner so that they can become a fully self-determined and functional members of the society. Through Incluyeme’s Vida Independiente (Independent Life) program, each participant is placed in a centrically located apartment in Mexico City, where they live independently away from the family with three other participants. Each resident has a full-time occupation, and is trained to commute back and forth independently, do house chores, and maintain relationships with neighbors and other roommates. The process is moderated, not controlled, by a facilitator figure rather than a caretaker figure, who lives with the participants. Parallel with the Vida Independiente is the Employment program, which matches each person with a job according to their level of intellect. By proving that sustainable independence is the key to happiness for both persons with disability and their families, Enrique is creating real change in the paradigmatic landscape within the area of disability.

The Problem

The World Health Organization estimates that between 2.8% and 3.5% of the Mexican population has some degree of mental disability. This figure converts to around 3 million people. This enormous and largely ignored population continues to be on the rise, with 250,000 more disabled persons reported in year 2012 than year 2010. Despite this increase, the dominant paradigm in Mexico surrounding mental disability continues to be that it is a problem to society. Existing support services hence focus on reducing the problematic impact of disability to the society, by “sheltering” the disabled in order to “shield” them from becoming a potential problem. Such an approach fundamentally undermines basic human rights of the individuals by negating their right to self-autonomy and a quality life.

A bigger challenge is that this problematic paradigm is not only rooted among social organizations, but also among the families of the disabled. Concerned about the potential conflicts that their loved ones might experience in the society, family members often isolate them further rather than helping them find ways to integrate. Yet this approach is not only degrading to the rights of the disabled but also unsustainable in the long term by making them heavily dependent on a few caretakers.

Another problem in the landscape is that the majority of existing support programs for the mentally disabled focus almost exclusively on those at an early age – meaning, support services for adults are almost non-existent. This is problematic, since living an independent life is a life-long process rather than a short-term issue during the developmental stage. The few programs that do target adults are heavily focused on granting employment or access to higher education, which do not provide a holistic solution to leading a truly independent life.

Before Enrique, the idea of a holistic autonomous life for adults existed only as a theory in Mexico. There has been some movement of Mexican academics and activists who, upon studying example cases of Europe and the United States, had begun to present and discuss the Mexican adaptation of the model. However, the idea often failed to extend beyond theoretical talks, and when a few related initiatives were launched, they had little systematization and were unable to scale nor sustain themselves in the long term. Thus, support program for adults in Mexico have largely remained as temporary training programs for 2-3 years for selected cohorts.

The Strategy

Seeing the vacuum of affordable, lifelong services for adults with mental disability and the problematic paradigm that still treats disability as an illness, Enrique identified the need for a more integrated approach that is also sustainable and scalable. Using his 30 years of expertise in corporate Operations and Technology, in 2008 Enrique came up with a real and holistic solution that is also well-structured and replicable.

Incluyeme’s core program, Vida Independiente (“Independent Life” in Spanish) was formally launched in 2010 after two years of initial trials. It places participants in four-person cohorts in centrically located apartments throughout Mexico City, in which they lead independent lives moderated by facilitators. The program begins with a rigorous outreach process that involves education and persuasion of the families that includes attending conferences, organizing workshops, and scheduling individual meetings. Once interested, the prospect candidate goes through a diagnostic exam that measures his or her abilities in a comprehensive manner on the scale of 1-9 (with 1 being extremely non-functional and 9 being highly functional), and designs a personalized program. Only those on levels 5 to 9 are qualified, and the rest referred to Incluyeme’s Employment Incorporation program or to partner organizations. Every step of the process is thoroughly documented from the onset.

Once admitted, each resident as requirement must have a full-time occupation, which can range from a corporate job to occupational trainings, depending on their abilities. Each must partially contribute to the rent with their salaries, and carry out daily tasks, such as commuting, cooking, and doing laundry. Residents are also encouraged to make decisions on leisurely activities. By incorporating both responsibilities and freedom as such, the program cultivates a real sense of self-determination. There are 8 of such apartments in operation to date.

Aside from the maintenance of the livings spaces, Incluyeme also offers Support Circle services. A Support Circle consists of a maximum of 6 people that each resident feels close to, including family members, social service professionals, and friends, whose objective is to create a lasting support network that extends beyond direct family members and apartment facilitators. Each resident personally select the members of his or her Support Circle, after which is managed by the Incluyeme team to facilitate regular meanings.

One factor that distinguishes Enrique’s program from others is its rigorous documentation and systematization of the process. Using his 30 years of operational expertise, Enrique has constructed a clear-cut process map and measurement mechanism for each initiative. Apart from the initial diagnostics, Incluyeme also conducts annual evaluation via three methodologies: a checklist of abilities and indicators that measures self-determination, a qualitative interview with the participant and the family, and a survey of 200 questions that measures the quality of life. The results are then compared to the initial entrance diagnosis to assess the impact of the program on each individual. They are also used as a feedback to Incluyeme’s operational mechanism, based on which the organization can make flexible changes.

It is this very systematization that will also allow Enrique’s program to scale. Enrique understands that given the heavily personalized nature of his program, he alone cannot replicate the process at a massive scale. Hence, his aims to scale through an innovative social franchise model. With his rigorously documented know-how and an official manual of process mapping, Enrique plans to recruit and train interested franchisers from different states within Mexico. Enrique is currently in conversation with Microsoft Corporation to construct an automatized operation system, as well as with franchising experts who are working on a pro bono basis. Furthermore, apart from the franchising the Vida Independiente model, Enrique has led the creation of a greater network of support services for all ages and classes of persons with mental disability, by partnering with 10 existing organizations for the disabled, such as Daunis, DOMs, CEDAC, whose programs range from childhood/adolescence care to employment trainings.

Enrique’s operational expertise can also be seen in the financial structure of Incluyeme. Compared to other similar non-profits, Incluyeme’s funding is noticeably stable with diversified sources. 56% of financing comes from national foundations and corporate donations that come from 15 national partners such as the BBVA Foundation and Banamex. 14% of its income comes from various fundraising campaigns, 18% from selling products and services, and another 14% from fundraising raffles. Partnerships with the private sector and international foundations generates the remaining 6%. Incluyeme also generates some income from the pricing of the Vida Independiente program. The program costs MXN 12,000 (USD 670) per month, and the participants from mid-high socioeconomic class (consisting of 1/3 of the participant class) pay 125% of the standard price. The other 2/3 are given discounts and scholarships up to 95% of the original price. To create a sense of ownership and responsibility, every single participant must pay, -- although with personalized discount rates -- either with their own salary or with their family’s help. Currently Incluyeme has been seeing a 50% surplus in its net flow of funds, with which Enrique is creating an endowment fund for future growth.

While Vida Independiente is certainly one aspect of the paradigm shift, Enrique pursues bigger and more multi-faceted systemic change through Labor Inclusion programs and corporate consulting. Incluyeme partners with 10 similar NGOs and to date has generated 102 jobs in 34 corporations as well as 800 jobs in productive workshops. Part of this program is that Incluyeme helps the sales of products and services produced by the participants, by generating sales catalog and managing outreach. Incluyeme has also begun a consulting services for corporations that elaborates the benefits of hiring a highly functional mentally disabled person. The service comes with recommendations on inclusion policies as well as helpful tools to more efficiently utilize labor. The goal within the next few years is to expand the consulting services and charge a consulting fee to private corporations as a means to reduce the organization’s dependence on external donations, as well as to grow the social franchise model throughout the nation.

The Person

As a father of a daughter who has mental disability, Enrique has been looking for a support system for her for many years, so that she could lead an independent and happy life even when he is not there for her anymore. Having to raise his daughter without adequate support from her mother, Enrique learned the real needs of a mentally disabled adult and their families. However, the options he found in Mexico were- at best - only partially adequate. Some programs offered support for children, others offered sheltering facilities, some offered help but for a limited amount of time -- none of them provided a lifetime support that treated her and trained her into a truly independent adult being. As he continued his search with frustration, in 2007 he heard about the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities calling for respect for all people’s freedom of choice. Inspired by this global paradigmatic change, Enrique decided to build his own solution and to bring the global change into his own country.

Enrique comes from an academic, corporate, and entrepreneurial background, which has led him to become a very grounded and structured social entrepreneur. He studied Financing and Accounting for his bachelor, pursued a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Illinois, and soon after founded his own technology company. After a few years he joined Banmex’s Operations and Technology department, where he would spend the next 30 years of his professional life. Although his career was more than successful – he became the Executive Director of Latin America and led the continental M&A between Citibank and Banamex -- he willingly retired from the leadership position to fully dedicate himself to the greater cause of Fundacion Incluyeme. His multidisciplinary background and professional credentials have provided a great stimulus for his organization, with his academic connections helping him to develop an internationally proven program, while his corporate connections helping him to raise the necessary capital. His 30+ years know-how has helped him grow Incluyeme as a well-structured system, through which he aims to create a real systemic change in the paradigm surrounding persons with disability.